young + fresh art

Month: June 2016

//Negative Space// Negative space means giving emptiness weight, making material objects disappear. Negative space means letting shapes rule. You could be subtracting or adding or molding the shadows. It is like hearing what isn’t said in a conversation. Suddenly the silence becomes all the more important. (Turn the world inside out, and perhaps you can feel the fraying stitches and seams like the inside of a sweater.)

written by Nathaniel Stephens This past couple of weeks have been quite the upset for the punk community of the Los Angeles area. Jim Smith, owner of DTLA venue The Smell, released a notice stating that the property owners were planning to demolish the building sometime in the future. The response was huge, everyone in the scene reached out and gave their remorse. A petition manifested encouraging the stay of the building; already, over 8,000 signatures have been received. I have fond memories of this place and the scene there. My heart goes out to Jim and everyone affected. The Smell was established in 1998. The all-ages drug free environment is dedicated to artistic expression, creative ingenuity and individual liberty. It has become a safe haven for those who just couldn’t seem to find a niche in today’s society, who faced rejection after rejection until they decided to settle at The Smell, making it for most a home away from home. The Smell prides itself on being a community-oriented, not-for-profit organization, built on the foundation of D.I.Y. …

My grandma loves handkerchiefs and she’s always been fond of giving them as gifts, so I’ve grown up with a lot of them around the house. Around her, they were always used in a practical way; they were offered if you had a runny nose or felt a sneeze coming on. But recently she gave me these two and I was struck by how interesting and intricate they are. These two aren’t really anything special, but they’re beautiful in their own ordinary way, which comes out in the drawings. Like these hankies, there are so many pieces of art we miss in the day to day, and it’s only till we put them on paper that we consider them beautiful. Also, this is sort of a tribute to my grandma and her contradictory tastes of vintage and modern, practical and impractical. It’s weird to see the hankies on a computer screen; they look out of place, but in a good way- like they’ve been placed in a new context.

Artwork by Eric Anaya Profile by Amelia Anthony I recently witnessed Eric weave straightfaced through a busy Saturday night in Little Tokyo, holding up a fresh pastel drawing of an alien (see below). People reacted as they always do: some laughed, smiled a bit cautiously, gave him a blank stare, veered away. He was unfazed and continued his way to The Smell, flashing his sketchbook to passerby. It was a fascinating not-quite-social experiment, and a most quintessential Eric Anaya move. He can be characterized by a single earring, a possibly-sly grin, and seemingly boundless charm. Despite an endearing ego, Eric is never be boring to be around; he is rarely in a bad mood and is always bleeding ideas. He calls himself a “progressive,” not in the political sense, but in the way he’s always on the go, antsy, hyperactive. A recent epiphany left him with a careful grasp on the universe and a knowledge of exactly what he wants to do with the rest of his life: make music and kiss cute girls. Eric …